Molded pulp package



June' 2, 1964 c, J, CHAPLIN 3,135,450.

MOLDED PULP PACKAGE Original Filed Nov. 19, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 1 54 6 44 x ff.

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MOLDED PULP PACKAGE Original Filed Nov. 19, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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MOLDED PULP PACKAGE Original Filed Nov. 19, 1957 4 sheets-sheet 5 v INVENTOR. BY flfleu j 4/ -E1QCH';

June 2, 1964 C. J. C FIAPLIN MOLDED PULP PACKAGE Qr'ig'i'nal Filed Nov. 19; 1957' 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,135,459 MQLDED PULP PACKAGE Charles E. (Ihaplin, Portiand, Maine, assigner, by mesne assignments, to Diamond National Corporation, New York, N311, a corporation of Delaware (Driginal appiicatinn Nov. 19, 1957, Ser. No, 697,369. Divided and application Aug. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 759,111, now Patent No. 349%,177, dated da a. 9, 1962. Again divided and this appiication July 11, 196i, Ser. No. 1319, 143

2 Claims. (Cl. 22--2.5)

This invention relates to packaging, and more particularly to a novel molded package providing an enclosure having a plurality of integral sections or members for suspending an article therein out of contact with the walls of the enclosure. in my cop-ending application Serial No. 759,411 filed August 22, 195%, which issued as US. Letters Patent- No. 3,916,177 on January 9, 1962 (which is a division of Serial No. 697,369, filed November 19, 1957 and now abandoned), there is disclosed and claimed a novel unitary molded pulp sheet for forming a molded pulp container, and this application is a division of Serial No. 759,111 filed August 22, 195-8.

The provision of economical packaging for relatively Another objective of molded packaging is to provide a package which is complete in itself. In other words, which does not require being placed in a fibreboa'rd and/ or other package for shipment. Such an article, in order to provide adequate support and protection for the packed product must resist deformation either by vertical pressure when being placed at the bottom of a stack of similar or other articles, or by puncturing or breaking during rough handling. In all instances, whether it be handling or storage, no appreciable force, weight or strain should be applied to the packed suspended product, the outer case, Walls, or structure of the pack absorbing all of the shock and/ or other loads.

According to the present invention, a novel package is provided wherein a fragile articleis supported over a relatively large surface area and out of contact with the walls thereof beyond the reach of expected damage and in a manner such that shock loads or forces transmitted to the article are reduced to a value which the particular article is capable of resisting. Briefly, this is accomplished by the use of a molded package having relatively rigid outer walls providing a surrounding enclosure and a plurality of substantially energy-absorbing supporting structures molded integrally with and usually projecting inwardly from said walls to support an article in a position spaced from said Walls. .In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the internalsupport structures are progressively deformable under shock loads, thereby reducing the g factor, or shock factor, on the article while the outer walls of the enclosure maintain their original position, stiffness and rigidity. i

It is known that the shock loadsor forces which any article can resist without damage can be expressed-for a particular article in terms of a multiple of the force of gravity, the factor g, applied in a given direction relatively to the article. Therefore, each different type or kind of article must have its molded pack engineered to meet the particular requirements. First, that adequate protection be given to the weight, size and stacking requirements of the complete package, and, second, that panying drawings wherein: FIG, 1 is an isometric view of one symmetrical half of 3,135,450 Patented June 2, 1964 ice sufficient shock absorbing means he provided to reduce the g factor under shock loads below that which is the maximum which the article or product will absorb in itself Without damage.

' Considering for a moment a perfectly rigid support for a fragile article, so long as the g forces applied to the support are less than the minimum value of g force which can be applied to the article without damage, such a support will provide the best possible support for a fragile article, since, if accurately fitting, it can hold the article firmly and positively prevent any movement of the article relative to its supporting structure which itself might cause g forces large enough to damage the article. An elastic support, on the other hand, has the advantage of not requiring the accurate fitting of a rigid support, and will cushion the article supported thereby and so generally reduce the smaller g forces applied to the package. In the eventof the application of a highflg force, however, an elastic support must inevitably itself create large g forces, particularly when bottoming occurs, that is, collision at the limit of travel of the elastic support.

The support of the present invention, however, frequently prevents article damage when g' forces greater than those the article is capable of resisting are applied to the package, by virtue of the energy absorbing qualities of its non-resilient molded pulp supporting structure, which unique qualities neither rigid nor elastic structures can provide. The suspended article, then, so long as the package is not subjected to a shock load or force greater than that at which the article supports are intended to fail progressively, is rigidly supported within the package. This prevents creation of shock loads on the article by movement of the article'itself within the package which might result in shock loads high enough todamage the article even though the-initiating shock load applied to the walls of the package be less than the critical value, as might occur upon collision of the article with a non-yielding surface within the package. However, when the package receives a shock load of a predetermined value somewhat less than that which the suspended article is designed to resist, progressive deformation of the supporting structure begins so that the excess shock load is absorbed thereby without being transmitted to the article.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a molded pulp package having an internal normally rigid supporting structure especially useful for odd shaped articles Without the necessity for accurate dimensioning of the package or, its support. This has been accomplished by providing a rigid, generally non-resilient, hollow, energy absorbing supporting member with an article contacting surface of readily deformable material sothat it Will'deform to the extent necessary to fit itself to an article positioned within the package and yet rigidly support it thereafter.

-1t is yet another obiect of the invention to provide a molded pulp package having a supporting structure with a'limited degree of resiliency to enable the resilient sup: port of an article therein if desired, this being accomplished by the use of a resilient surface. on the otherwise non-resil ent supportng structure sothat the energy absorbing qualities upon progressive deformation thereof are not seriously affected. 7

Various other objects and featuresof the invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, together with the accom a form of a packageaccording to the present invention; FIGS. 2-4 are views of'the packages half of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 2 and 4 being sections taken on the lines 2*-2 to i 4'4 thereof, and FIGS. 3 and4 showing the package with an article enclosed therein;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of one symmetrical half of a modified form of a package according to the present invention, somewhat similar to that of FIG. 1 but intended to carry a plurality of articles; and

FIGS. 6-8 are views of the package half of FIG. 5, FIGS. 6 and 8 being sections taken on the lines 66 to 8-8 thereof, and FIGS. 7 and 8 showing the package with articles enclosed therein.

In FIGS. 1-4 there is shown a novel package according to the present invention, made up of two identical molded pulp package halves, again of generally uniform wall thickness throughout, but especially adapted for enclosing and suspending a conventional watt hour meter having a glass cup-like forward portion and an enlarged cylindrical rear portion usually with four terminals protruding therefrom spaced from the vertical center line of the circular rear face of the instrument. Such meters are relatively fragile, particularly in regard to the bearings of their rotating elements, and must be protected against high g loads which are likely to occur during shipment. Furthermore, since meter packages are generally stacked for storage and shipment, it is important that the weight of the meters in the upper layers of a stack not be imposed upon the meters in the lower layers, but rather be taken by the walls of the packages themselves.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1-4 then, the integrally molded package half 40 therein shown has an interrupted generally flat bottom 42, side walls 44, and front and rear walls 46 and 48 respectively, with a turned-out horizontal flange 50 extending around the open end of the package half 40. A plurality of hollow, entirely enclosed meter suspending structures integrally molded into the package at the juncture of the bottom 42 and walls 44, 46 and 48 serve not only to support the meter in accordance with the principles of the invention but also to stiffen the outer walls and bottom of the package by acting as stiffening members positioned perpendicularly both to said bottom and sides and extending inwardly therefrom. As herein shown, such meter suspending structures are six in number for each half package 40, including two for each side wall 44, a forward projection 52 for supporting the glass cup portion C of the meter M and a rearward projection 54 for supporting the cylindrical rear portion R of the meter M, and a projection 56 and 58 for each of the front and rear walls respectively, all at the juncture of said walls with bottom 42. Each of said projections are generally similar with a pair of spaced side panels 62 acting as stiffening means with connecting panel 64 extending along the entire length of said side panels interconnecting both them and the bottom 42 and outer wall of the half package 40. At least a portion of each panel 64 operates as a contact surface for supporting the meter M, and such surface is preferably made somewhat softer than the remainder of the package and is of ribbed configuration at 66 as by reworking the surface. This provides a readily deformable surface that can be made to fit closely about the meter M. In order to fit the meter properly, the surfaces 66 of the forward and rear projections 52 and 54 are arcuate to support the cup portion C and rim portion R of the meter respectively, with the latter having a greater radius of curvature than the former, and the forward projection 56 is also curved about the edge of the cup-like end of the meter. The rear projection 58 is generally straight and narrow enough so that the meter terminals project beyond it without touching it.

In use, a meter M will be supported within a pair of package halves 40 as shown in FIGS. 2-4, with all of its parts out of contact with the outer walls and suspended against breakage in accordance with the principles of the invention. Furthermore, by sealing together the opposing flanges 50 of the package halves, as by a suitable adhesive, the meter will also be protected against dust or water damage.

A related package capable of enclosing and suspending four individual watt hour meters is shown in FIGS. 5-8. Such package also has the advantage of being able to handle meters having cup-like glass portions of differing overall lengths presently common in the industry. This is accomplished in the structure of FIGS. 5-8 by supporting the meters against movement in a forward direction parallel to their axes at their rim portions, enabling the omission of a supporting projecting in contact with the front face of the glass cup-like portion of the meter. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 5-8, the four meter half package 70 has a bottom 72, side walls 74, and end walls 76 as well as a plurality of projections positioned at the juncture of the bottom and the walls which serve idependently to support the meters spaced from one another and the side walls. In addition, further projections are provided which extend upwardly from bottom 72. Thus, as shown best in FIG. 7, a generally straight sided upstanding projection 80 is positioned midway between end walls 76 generally along the common center line of each of the pairs of meters arranged in back-to-back relationship with said projection maintaining them including their terminals out of contact with one another. Further projections, one adjacent each of end walls 76 along said common centerline, are also provided for supporting away from the bottom the glass cup-like end of the meters and such projections, by virtue of their spaced panels 81 extending perpendicularly to end walls 76 and bottom 72 and their meter supporting panel 82 extending therebetween, also serve to stiffen the package.

For supporting the cylindrical rim of the meter, stepped arcuate surfaces are provided on each side of said centerline for each of said pairs of meters with the arcuate surfaces 84 of greater radius adjacent projection 80 and with the arcuate surfaces of lesser radius 86 spaced from surr faces 84 by a radially extending wall 85 which is adapted to retain the forward face of the rim portion of a meter. The surfaces adjacent the side walls 74 of the half package are in the form of projections at the juncture of said side walls and bottom and have spaced stiffening panels 83 and 87 adjacent surfaces 84 and 86 respectively. The arcuate surfaces adjacent the center of the package take the form of a pair of upstanding projections 90, each supporting at one side thereof on said arcuate surfaces 84 and 86 a pair of meters in side-by-side relationship adequately spaced from one another, with such projections 90 having inner opposed stiffening panels 89 spaced from one another and projecting upwardly from bottom 72 to the edge of arcuate surfaces 84 and outer stiffening panels 91 similarly projecting upwardly to the edge of arcuate surfaces 86. Preferably, a stiffening projection 94 of inverted U shape extends upwardly from bottom 72 between each of outer stiffening panels 90 and end walls 76.

In use, as best shown in FIG. 7, four meters may be supported within a pair of package halves 7t), and meters having cup-like glass portions of different lengths may be accommodated. For example, in FIG. 7 the package half of the invention is shown as supporting two meters M and M of different length, the meters in each case being restrained against movement in a direction toward an end wall 76 by virtue of contact of the forward face of their rim-like portions with surface 85, thus keeping the forward face of their cup-like glass portions spaced from end wall 76 at all times.

As set forth in the discussion of the principles of the present invention, the wall thickness of the walls 64 is controlled as desired to provide strength such that the progressive deformation of the article suspending structure will begin todeform at G forces somewhat less than those which will damage the article to be protected. Thus, assuming that the maximum tolerable G force which can be applied to the article is known, a wall strength can be arrived at whereby the energy absorbing progressive failure will commence at a somewhat lower value, and this can readily be done either by calculation or test as is most appropriate, the latter being carried out by means of a mass equivalent to the article including a suitable accelerometer which will record G forces in conventional drop tests or the like. The wall strength itself is dependent upon a number of factors which may be readily controlled in accordance with conventional pulp molding procedures. Thus, wall thickness will affect wall strength, as well as the specific nature of the pulp fibre deposited on a forming die. Wall thickness in particular is easily controllable by varying deposit times so that a series of packages having different wall strengths may quickly and easily be made up for testing to arrive at the wall strength desired for a particular package application.

Thus, it will be seen that the invention provides both novel molded articles and die structures especially useful in the protective packaging of fragile articles. Various modifications of the invention not herein disclosed but within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims will be apparent to those skilled in this art.

I claim:

1. A molded pulp package comprising, in combination, at least one watt-hour meter and a pair of separate, identical package halves, each said package half including a bottom wall bordered by substantially rectangularly related, rigid walls terminating in a peripheral, marginal flange, the flanges of said respective package halves being secured to each other at said flanges with said watt-hour meter enclosed within said package halves, said rigid walls comprising a pair of opposed side walls and opposed front and rear walls, said side Walls including thereon and extending from the inner surface thereof a plurality of spaced, non-elastic, normally rigid, article suspending structures integral with said side and bottom wall, said suspending structures being three-dimensional and including side panels extending inwardly and vertically from the juncture between said side and bottom walls and each connected by being closed by a portion including a generally quadrantal meter support surface, said quadrantal support surfaces having different radii of curvature, said front wall and bottom wall having intermediately thereof and integral therewith and projecting inwardly and vertically from the juncture therebetween a three-dimensional structure having side panels connected by a meter-contacting surface, said rear and bottom walls having a three-dimension projection extending inwardly and vertically from the juncture therebetween and closed by a transverse connecting portion for receiving terminal portions of said meter thereabout, said meter suspending structures being deformable progressively when a predetermined load force on the package is exceeded, thereby cushioning the packaged watt-hour meter and conforming to the shape thereof.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said quadrantal support surfaces are of a relatively soft consistency permitting said surfaces to fit closely and conform to the outer surface of said watt-hour meter when the package is initially formed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,217,455 Price et al. Oct. 8, 1940 2,423,756 Chaplin July 8, 1947 2,600,130 Schilling June 10, 1952 2,808,189 Williams Oct. 1, 1957 2,858,014 Koziol Oct. 28, 1958 2,863,595 Emery Dec. 9, 1958 I FOREIGN PATENTS 496,007 Great Britain Nov. 23, 1938 

1. A MOLDED PULP PACKAGE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, AT LEAST ONE WATT-HOUR METER AND A PAIR OF SEPARATE, IDENTICAL PACKAGE HALVES, EACH SAID PACKAGE HALF INCLUDING A BOTTOM WALL BORDERED BY SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULARLY RELATED, RIGID WALLS TERMINATING IN A PERIPHERAL, MARGINAL FLANGE, THE FLANGES OF SAID RESPECTIVE PACKAGE HALVES BEING SECURED TO EACH OTHER AT SAID FLANGES WITH SAID WATT-HOUR METER ENCLOSED WITHIN SAID PACKAGE HALVES, SAID RIGID WALLS COMPRISING A PAIR OF OPPOSED SIDE WALLS AND OPPOSED FRONT AND REAR WALLS, SAID SIDE WALLS INCLUDING THEREON AND EXTENDING FROM THE INNER SURFACE THEREOF A PLURALITY OF SPACED NON-ELASTIC, NORMALLY RIGID, ARTICLE SUSPENDING STRUCTURES INTEGRAL WITH SAID SIDE AND BOTTOM WALL, SAID SUSPENDING STRUCTURES BEING THREE-DIMENSIONAL AND INCLUDING SIDE PANELS EXTENDING INWARDLY AND VERTICALLY FROM THE JUNCTURE BETWEEN SAID SIDE AND BOTTOM WALLS AND EACH CONNECTED BY BEING CLOSED BY A PORTION INCLUDING A GENERALLY QUADRANTAL METER SUPPORT SURFACE, SAID QUADRANTAL SUPPORT SURFACES HAVING DIFFERENT RADII OF CURVATURE, SAID FRONT WALL AND BOTTOM WALL HAVING INTERMEDIATELY THEREOF AND INTEGRAL THEREWITH AND PROJECTING INWARDLY AND VERTICALLY FROM THE JUNCTURE THEREBETWEEN A THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE HAVING SIDE PANELS CONNECTED BY A METER-CONTACTING SURFACE, SAID REAR AND BOTTOM WALLS HAVING A THREE-DIMENSION PROJECTION EXTENDING INWARDLY AND VERTICALLY FROM THE JUNCTURE THEREBETWEEN AND CLOSED BY A TRANSVERSE CONNECTING PORTION FOR RECEIVING TERMINAL PORTIONS OF SAID METER THEREABOUT, SAID METER SUSPENDING STRUCTURES BEING DEFORMABLE PROGRESSIVELY WHEN A PREDETERMINED LOAD FORCE ON THE PACKAGE IS EXCEEDED, THEREBY CUSHIONING THE PACKAGED WATT-HOUR METER AND CONFORMING TO THE SHAPE THEREOF. 